Joan Neri Shares Best Practices for Retirement Plan Committees With PLANSPONSOR

In “How Should Plan Sponsors Stand Up A New Retirement Plan Committee?” PLANSPONSOR turned to benefits and executive compensation counsel Joan Neri for insight on how and why plan sponsors should build their retirement plan committee.

The presence of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) attorney at meetings is important to ensure members “are staying in alignment with their obligations under ERISA,” Neri said. She further addressed committee structure and who should serve on committees, detailing a blueprint sponsors can follow to build a committee.

Once a plan sponsor decides to launch a committee and selects the members, Neri noted that the next step is to devise committee guidelines that outline how the panel will operate. She also suggested establishing committee guidelines with a charter, similar to corporate bylaws.